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Tuesday 13 July 2021

An Admirable Man

 I'll start by saying that I have absolutely no interest in any sport whatsoever.  I haven't been watching Wimbledon, the Euro's or even the local tiddlywinks competition.  I have no idea who won anything at tennis but I do know that Italy won the Big Match on Sunday.  My congratulations to them but my ability to comment on any sport is zilch.  

However, while I don't watch sport, I do watch the news and I have total admiration for Gareth Southgate, the England manager.  He has managed the team incredibly well to get them to the finals and he has taken responsibility for his choice of the players to take part in the penalty shootout.  He has accepted that responsibility totally in a way which is rarely seen in those in any kind of leadership.  He has made his contempt for racism abundantly clear.  There was no ranting, just a calm, rational man who made no attempt to shrug any blame onto anyone else.   There are many in authority in many fields who would profit from watching his style.


7 comments:

  1. Fellow not interested in sport person , though i managed half an hour of wheelchair tennis at Wimbledon while channel hopping the other day

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  2. I am the same about sport. But totally agree about Gareth Southgate - a true leader.

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  3. Totally agree, he is a great example to all. It saddens me that a game of football can bring so much hatred.

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  4. Totally agree. Whilst not interested in football I applaud the attitude of the 'losers'. GS is a sensible and empathetic man.

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  5. Winners aren't always the ones holding the trophy.

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  6. I do enjoy a good game of football (and Rugby and Formula 1) I watched all the matches involving England as well as several of the other matches and have to say that Gareth Southgate has shaped a wonderful team of young men who played so very well. Those penalty shots were hard to watch and it is awful that after all that hard work the final result is dependent on individual attempts at goal. They lost, so, so sad BUT I felt so very proud of those young men for brightening our hearts during these recent dark times. And I'd rather be second with a clear conscience than to win the cup after 4 yellow cards and a blatant foul when Saka was yanked by the neck backwards to the ground by a brutal Italian player. The referee chose to ignore it when it deserved a red card and a sending off. Grrrr! Rant over - but never forgotten.

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  7. I don't follow any sports either, but the manager you describe sounds like a man of honor. We can always use more of those.

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